A music-with-movement exercise programme for community-dwelling older adults suffering from chronic pain: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

AIM: This study developed, implemented and tested the effectiveness of a music-with-movement exercise programme in improving the pain situations of older adults with chronic pain. DESIGN: A pilot randomized controlled trial. METHODS: This was a pilot randomized controlled trial. The intervention was an 8-week music-with-movement exercise (MMEP) programme for older adults with chronic pain recruited in elders' community centres. The control group received the usual care and a pain management pamphlet. Outcome variables were pain intensity, pain self-efficacy and pain interference, depression and loneliness. RESULTS: Seventy-one participants joined this study. Pain intensity was significantly reduced between the experimental group compared to the control group. The experimental group participants reported significant improvements in pain self-efficiency, pain interference and reduced loneliness and depressive symptoms. However, no significant difference was observed between groups.

A Dyadic Pain Management Program for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Chronic Pain: Study Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Community-dwelling older adults suffer from chronic pain. Pain negatively affects their physical and psychosocial wellbeing. The majority of pain management education and programs focus only on older adults. Their informal caregivers should be involved in pain management. A dyadic pain management program for reducing pain and psychological health symptoms, and improving pain self-efficacy, quality of life, and physical function in older adults is proposed for evaluation of its effectiveness. This will be a cluster randomized controlled trial. Community-dwelling older adults aged 60 or above and their informal caregivers will be recruited. The dyadic pain management program will be an eight-week group-based program. The participants in the experimental group will receive four weeks of center-based, face-to-face activities and four weeks of digital-based activities via a WhatsApp group. The control group will receive the usual care and a pain management pamphlet. Data will be collected at baseline, and at the eighth-week and sixteenth-week follow-up session. The outcome measurements will include pain intensity, pain self-efficacy, perceived quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress levels. Data on the caregiver burden will be collected from the informal caregivers. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all social activities have been suspended. In the near future, as the pandemic subsides, the dyadic pain management program will be launched to benefit community-dwelling older adults and informal caregivers and to reduce their pain and the care burden, respectively.

Magnitude, Temporal Trends, and Inequalities in the DALYs and YLDs of Nutritional Deficiency among Older Adults in the Western Pacific Region: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2019.

The population in the Western Pacific region is aging rapidly. Nutritional deficiency is prevalent in older adults; however, information regarding nutritional deficiency in this population is scarce. Using the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) results, the age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of healthy life lost due to disability (YLDs) from nutritional deficiency were estimated between 1990 and 2019 for this population. Average annual percentage change (AAPC) was used to assess temporal trends, and linear mixed-effects models were used to examine socioeconomic and sex inequalities. From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized DALYs of nutritional deficiency in this population decreased from 697.95 to 290.95 per 100,000, and their age-standardized YLDs decreased from 459.03 to 195.65 per 100,000, with the greatest declines seen in South Korea (AAPCs < -5.0). Tonga had the least decline in DALYs (AAPC = -0.8), whereas Fiji experienced an increase in YLDs (AAPC = 0.1). Being female and having a lower sociodemographic index score was significantly associated with higher age-standardized DALYs and YLDs. The magnitude and temporal trends of the nutritional deficiency burden among older adults varied across countries and sex in the region, indicating that health policies on nutritional deficiency among older adults must be crafted to local conditions.

Effects of play activities program for nursing home residents with dementia on pain and psychological well-being: Cluster randomized controlled trial.

AIM: The prevalence of chronic pain among nursing home residents with dementia is high. This present study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a play activities program among nursing home residents with dementia. METHODS: Each nursing home was randomly assigned to an experimental group or control group. A 1-h play activities program was offered weekly for 8 weeks to the experimental group, whereas participants in the control group read books and magazines for 15 min weekly for the 8 weeks. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline, post-intervention (at week 8) and 4 weeks after the intervention. RESULTS: A total of 53 nursing home residents from four nursing homes were recruited. There were significant treatment effects on pain, depression and happiness level when comparing the experimental group and control group. However, there were no treatment effects on activities of daily living, social engagement, behavioral symptoms and mobility between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The play activities program was useful in reducing pain and improving the psychological health of nursing home residents with dementia. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 1485-1490.